Xiaguan early to mid 2000's

Im been thinking of picking up a Xiaguan cake thats been store somewhere more humid. I've found a few cakes online from 2003-06 but not sure if any of them have been stored humidly enough for my taste. Any feedback about these cakes would be helpful or any others you know of.

Try to get samples. This will save you the headache of unwanted discoveries about a tea. The same cake can be stored in a multitude of different climates producing a different tea accordingly. The only way you will know is by trying, hence, samples are the way to go.

Next thing, if you like a lot of humidity, there aren't all that many humid stored teas that are clean, and they aren't usually all that cheap.

I know finepuer is more towards dry storage. Red Lantern Tea tends to have storage wetter than they would admit, and they have a number of Xiaguan tuos and baoyan jinchas from 2005-7.

I think your best bet is to go to White2tea or OriginTea and ask the proprietors for a custom search for Xiaguan and Xiaguan-like cakes that have been well-stored. Do be advised that well stored cakes (tuos, bricks are cheaper, for good reason) from about 2006-7ish going on back will become more expensive as you get even a little older, particularly 2003 and before. Finepuer's prices is about as reasonable as you can get, and you aren't about to get exciting tea!

mr mopu, I forgot to mention i'm only looking for raw cakes but that vendor does have a 2005 8653, have you tried it?

Teed Off, Yes samples are a better way to go but I'd prefer not to waste any money them unless i know the tea has been stored humidly.

They have a good selection of raw and ripe and they source tea for me also. Their shipping is the fastest without using ems. I have tried the "Golden Jade" toucha from 2007 and it is a nice clean stored tea.

Tead Off wrote:Try to get samples. This will save you the headache of unwanted discoveries about a tea. The same cake can be stored in a multitude of different climates producing a different tea accordingly. The only way you will know is by trying, hence, samples are the way to go.

I have that last one...the 8673 and it has had some humid storage. Not super heavy like liquid mold or anything, but a decent amount. The 2007 Tibetan Flame brick has had humid storage also.

Decided to try it since it's been a long time. I've had this for about a year so it has mellowed a bit. Lots of wood with a touch of earthiness and some storage funk....finishes with a bit of sweetness. No smoke or off putting flavors. For me this is just right...but I don't like heavy storage flavors so I can only speak for what I like.

If you want a good wet stored Xiaguan cake from 2000ish, this 8853 from 2001. The 450g with the red stamp on the inner wrapper is the good one. Beware of the 500g version, the material is worse. The 450g version has great material. Prices range from $350-$900 on Taobao. (I tried to pick vendors with a several diamond or above rating) Storage can vary a lot. The cake I have, the first few steeps are rough, but then it is a solid from there on out. I did not get my cakes off of taobao, so i don't endorse any of these, just for reference.

I have this brick, too, but I can't detect any wet storage. Bought mine from Puerh Shop along with a couple of tuochas from Xiaguan. All are stored well. My problem with Xiaguan is smokiness, although I have an excellent 2004 tie bing that has aged well here in BKK.

Glad to get so many helpful replies. I want an inexpensive (under $100) beeng for no frills consumtion so It sounds like the 03yr 8673 might be a good fit. The ultra low price allows for very low expectations. Those taobao cakes cost far more than i'm willing to spend. I'd be interested in ordering from there at some point but only for cheap teas.

Teed Off, I've been interested in a few teas from Puerhshop recently such as the 2004 menghai stored 7542. The 2006 Xiaguan T8653 looks rather brown. I don't plan to buy anything from them because of Jim's shady business practices and comments he's posted online though. I just can't support a business like that and not feel bad after.

shah82, Thanks for the heads up on Red lantern. I've suspected for a while that some of their cakes are not totally dry. I might just have to buy a few samples from them. BTW I'm want teas stored in places humid like Taiwan and HK. I'm open to all degrease of humid storage as long as brewed leaves still unfurl and don't look like shu.

Last edited by Chip on Oct 27th, '13, 10:56, edited 2 times in total. Reason:commas added after addressees

Zared wrote:Glad to get so many helpful replies. I want an inexpensive (under $100) beeng for no frills consumtion so It sounds like the 03yr 8673 might be a good fit. The ultra low price allows for very low expectations. Those taobao cakes cost far more than i'm willing to spend. I'd be interested in ordering from there at some point but only for cheap teas.

Teed Off, I've been interested in a few teas from Puerhshop recently such as the 2004 menghai stored 7542. The 2006 Xiaguan T8653 looks rather brown. I don't plan to buy anything from them because of Jim's shady business practices and comments he's posted online though. I just can't support a business like that and not feel bad after.

I wasn't aware there were any issues with this vendor. My experience was straight forward with them. What seems to be the problem?

Zared wrote:Glad to get so many helpful replies. I want an inexpensive (under $100) beeng for no frills consumtion so It sounds like the 03yr 8673 might be a good fit. The ultra low price allows for very low expectations. Those taobao cakes cost far more than i'm willing to spend. I'd be interested in ordering from there at some point but only for cheap teas.

Teed Off, I've been interested in a few teas from Puerhshop recently such as the 2004 menghai stored 7542. The 2006 Xiaguan T8653 looks rather brown. I don't plan to buy anything from them because of Jim's shady business practices and comments he's posted online though. I just can't support a business like that and not feel bad after.

shah82, Thanks for the heads up on Red lantern. I've suspected for a while that some of their cakes are not totally dry. I might just have to buy a few samples from them. BTW I'm want teas stored in places humid like Taiwan and HK. I'm open to all degrease of humid storage as long as brewed leaves still unfurl and don't look like shu.

Some cakes I bought from Royal Puer seem wet storaged, more so than the ones I bought a few months ago from Red Lantern. However, only half of the cakes I bought from them (Royal Puer) seemed wet storaged.